It Started With A Night
by KeepMeInspired
Summary: You better tell that Uchiha you're sorry... 'cause you're marrying me." on hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I really had fun just thinking of this story. Hope you enjoy too.! XD

Kindly post your reviews, minna-san... -.-

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**IT STARTED WITH A NIGHT**

**A LOT OF PINK HAIR**

An insistent ringing penetrated his peaceful slumber.

Neji stretched languidly. Annoyed, his eyes darted to his bedside table where his alarm clock stood.

It read 8:09 am.

He clamped a hand down hard upon its stubborn ringing head. _Damn alarm clock. _He heaved a sigh as he closed his eyes again to resume his sleep.

He took a deep breath… and another...then another

His brows furrowed. Why was his chest feeling so heavy?

He glanced down and his eyes landed on pink hair. _A lot of pink hair._

His eyes widened in shock. _Wh—what??_

He struggled to sit up…. and that was when the whole scene was bared before his eyes.

His eyes swept the room with one fluid turn of his head. Even without his Byakugan activated, he could see each and every detail of the room in full clarity.

He took in the rumpled sheets, the clothes strewn all over the room and, last but not the least, the sleeping pink-haired beauty lying curled up beside him.

As he gazed about the room, only one thought crossed his mind.

**What the hell. **

He raised a hand to his temple. What in the world had happened in this room?

He couldn't remember anything that had happened last night.

But, of course… He bumped a fist lightly to his forehead. Anyone with a sane mind could guess what had just happened with just one sweeping look of the room.

At least, he had woken up in _his_ room, he thought… Not hers… That could definitely still account for something.

His eyes landed again at the person on his bed.

There was no way he could mistake that bunch of pink hair and wide forehead for anybody else here in Konoha.

It was definitely her.

Damn. Of all the people he could've taken to bed with him, why must it be her?

But still there was no mistaking about it.

It sure as hell was Haruno Sakura.

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A/N: So, how was the story? :D please write your opinions

Kindly review. XD


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I hope you express your opinions and review XD I'm kinda doubting about this plot ..

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**IT STARTED WITH A NIGHT**

**By KeepMeInspired**

**Chapter II**

In an attempt to clear his mind, Neji folded his arms over his chest. He leaned back against his chair and started running different possibilities and scenarios in his head. Sakura, however, was not as tranquil as him in terms of trying to gather her jumbled thoughts together. She agitatedly drummed her fingernails against the plastic surface of the table as her expression went from doomed then to hopeful then back again to looking crestfallen.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

Neji threw her a glare. She glared back.

"What?" she answered defensively.

"Would you quit doing that?!"

"And precisely what is it that I've been doing wrong? For all I know, I'm quietly contemplating here next to you."

His scowl went even darker. "You can't really call that incessant tapping a quiet way to mull over things when all it does is disarrange my already tangled thoughts."

She rolled her eyes haughtingly. "Let me express my deepest apologies, Your High and Almighty Majesty. I was under the impression that two people were thinking here!" she huffed.

"Your brain doesn't need you thumping in order to work!" He sneered in absolute irritation. "If only you've used that head of yours last night then none of this must have happened!"

Sakura stared indignantly at him. "You're dumping _me _all the blame?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You are _such_ a coward, Hyuuga! I can't believe I'm actually hearing this." she spat out disgustedly.

Neji banged his fist against the table. "I am _not_, as you say it, dumping the blame on you. I am _simply_ stating that if you could have just stopped me last night then you wouldn't have ended up _right here_ in my room _right now_!"

"That's just the same, isn't it?!" she shouted as his previous allegation all but riled her up. "You're telling me that this is my entire fault!"

She was about to accuse him of how irresponsible he was behaving when a knock from the door interrupted her. Her eyes widened alarmingly.

Neji saw Sakura's gaze bolting frantically from himself to the door, to the window then back again to him as if gauging her escape routes and checking if he's capable of pulling her right back in.

"Relax, Haruno." he said, to which only a flare of her nostrils was given as a response. Clearing his throat, he called to the door. "Come in."

The door slowly creaked open and a shy head was made visible to an unruffled

Neji and a seemingly-frozen Sakura.

The person squeaked as her eyes landed on the pink-haired medic. "Sa…..kura-chan?"

Sakura managed to let out a tight edgy smile. "Hinata."

Hinata's face suddenly flamed as her pearly white orbs darted from a fidgety Sakura then to her composed cousin. "I'm…. so…rry. I must have interrupted something."

"No, you didn't." Sakura forced a smile but somehow it came out looking more like a grimace.

"She's just visiting." Neji said matter-of-factly.

Somehow the slight, but very evident, raise of Hinata's eyebrows gave Sakura the impression that she didn't buy that statement at all. "This early?"

Her cousin gave an abrupt nod and Hinata regarded this as an apparent signal for her to shut her mouth up. "So, what do you want?" Neji asked.

"I…. I came to tell you the Hokage wants to see you as soon as possible. It's about a mission, I guess." She blushed again before finally leaving the room.

Silence engulfed them for a few moments.

Sakura gazed at Neji and found him regarding her with the strangest of looks. But then she blinked and the expression vanished as quickly as it appeared. Neji's countenance was once again cool, calm and composed.

"So…" Sakura started in a surprisingly pacified tone. "What do we do now?" She stole a glimpse of Neji as she said those words.

He folded his arms again over his chest before settling upon her his with calculating eyes. "Well, why don't we start by _peacefully_ recounting what really happened last night?"

She thought back, trying to open her cabinet of memories. "It was Tsunade's birthday and we were celebrating with her at the restaurant….." she scrunched up her nose as she tried to remember something. "Then Ino and the others invited us over to join their table……….. Then we……" Her eyes instantly widened.

"……we got drunk." They both stated flatly in unison.

Sakura slumped against her chair. "Oh boy. We're in big trouble."

"You drunk too much." he stated pointedly.

She regarded him with dubious wide eyes. "Must I to be blamed if I wanted to leave reality even for just a night?"

"Leave reality for just a night? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. And then what?" Neji smirked. "You chose me to escape that reality with?"

She fumed. This haughty bastard! "Of course not! You're making it sound as if I intended all of this!"

He just stared impassively at her.

She abruptly stood up, finally sick of him and all his stuck-up accusations. "You know what?" she almost shrieked at him in her fury. "Let's just forget about all of this, all right? The sooner we forget, the better." and she stormed off out of the room, leaving Neji to give his abrupt nod of assent to a desolately dismal room.

* * *

The next four weeks passed out in a blur. Though Sakura couldn't really place all the credit on the amount of work she had been doing, she was glad that there was something to keep her mind continually busy. The hectic schedule and piles of paperwork had been more than enough to keep her mind from straying to some other inappropriate directions.

She gathered all her paperwork and proceeded to transfer them to the Storage Room just beside the Hokage's office. With her arms full of manuscripts, scrolls and dissertations, she all but failed to notice a certain someone regarding her with an impassive expression as she made her way down the corridor. Just then, she collided with Shizune, Tsunade's assistant.

"Oh Sakura." she said, her arms automatically thrusting out to offer her some help.

"Sorry, Shizune. I guess I shouldn't have brought all of these scrolls with me all at once." she smiled at her apologetically.

"Sure and besides, the Hokage's calling for you so I guess I'll just have to relieve you of that." and the woman started to gather the papers away from Sakura's arms and into her own. Looking over Sakura's shoulder, she called out. "And you too, Hyuuga-san. You can come in now."

The pink haired girl turned around to see Neji leaning easily off the wall right where she had passed him a few moments ago. Before he could _glare_ at her, like how he normally does, she spun on her heel and entered the Hokage's office.

Tsunade motioned for all of them to sit down and Sakura did as she was told as her mind raced as to the reason why the Hokage had suddenly gathered four of them into the room.

Sitting down herself, Tsunade shuffled through her papers to retrieve a document which she then passed, without warning, to Neji who, of course, caught them deftly. He ruffled through them before closing the folder shut. "From what I've just read, I can say that this mission can be easily accomplished with just a two-man team."

Tsunade waved her hand dismissively. "Nonsense." she said and she proceeded to explain to them the full details of the mission. Her eyes roved to each of them. "This is a simple reconnaissance mission but, of course, you all know the vitality of the information you're tasked to get is and how troublesome it would be if this mission would all but fail. That is precisely the reason why I've specifically designed a team of four for this. The scroll you need to retrieve contains crucial material. It has been stolen from the leader of Rain. We must retrieve it at all costs."

"And what if we fail?" Tenten asked.

"If _and only if _you fail will I give you the permission to destroy the scroll. Rain said they would rather have it destroyed than have it fall on the hands of the wrong people."

Shikamaru nodded.

"Neji will be your team leader. You are to depart from Konoha at 0500 tomorrow morning. Understood?"

"Hai."

"You're dismissed."

* * *

Damn it, she was going to be late. She calculated the remaining distance she still had to cover and groaned. She was definitely _not_ going to make it. She dashed through the streets, not caring if her shorts showed from underneath her skirt. She pumped up her legs, knowing fully well that if she keeps up this pace she was going to receive a harangue twice as long as necessary. She gritted her teeth and cursed the heavens for assigning such an obnoxious man as their team leader. Still, even as she blamed the white eyed guy for all her misfortunes, she couldn't help but wonder why the hell she had woken up late today. She had opened her eyes only to find the clock beaming 05:15 at her. She had bolted out of bed, got dressed and grabbed her thank-god-already-prepared backpack. Only by the time she was out and was dashing like hell was she able to comprehend that she was enduring a queasy stomach and a minor throbbing in her head. Dismissing the thought as just a trivial thing, she skidded to a halt just as she was about to collide with Tenten.

"About time, Sakura." Tenten said with a smile.

"Sorry." she breathed out as she tried to regain her breath.

"Okay. Let's set out now." Shikamaru said as he started to walk out of Konoha's huge gates.

Sakura bit down her lower lip hesitantly. Cautiously, she took a peak at Neji. But he was no longer stationary. He was already on the move and if she wouldn't follow soon, she would surely be left behind. However, that didn't hinder her from rejoicing. Beaming discreetly to herself, she couldn't help but admire how powerful her luck might have been if she was able to avoid the bitter harangue of their team captain.

She felt confidence fill her. Happily, she began her trek through the forest.

Her estimation told her that they would be able to arrive at their destination in seven hours. After that, she presumed that they would be staying for 2 days before finally returning to the village. She pushed energy into her legs as she hopped from one tree branch to another. As was the instruction of their captain and upon the suggestion of Shikamaru, they were travelling in a straight line, with Neji on the front because he can detect any incoming onslaughts with his Byakugan. Sakura was right behind him, followed by Tenten, and then by Shikamaru whose task it was to guard the rear end of the group.

They were travelling for almost five hours now and Sakura was surprised to note a vague cramping in her calves. It was as if her legs were tired and was having some trouble supporting her body weight much less carry her from branch to branch. Sakura's brows creased in confusion as she regarded this observation silently.

As a medic-nin who had her tutelage under the Fifth Hokage, she had been trained to refine her chakra control. That's why she was sure this had nothing to do with abnormal chakra flow. She was also perfectly trained for long-distance missions and, in fact, she had just returned from one last week. This was absolutely not fatigue she was feeling but then if it was, then the question would be, why? Why would she, all of a sudden, develop a sore in her calf when she was absolutely used to training and gallivanting from place to place?

Admittedly, she was also beginning to feel extremely hungry. This astonished her as well for years in service as a ninja had proved her capable of enduring almost three days of extreme exhaustion and hunger. She glanced at the Hyuuga in front of her. She couldn't glimpse his face of course. All she could see was the way the muscles on his back would ripple slightly as he continued his quick pace effortlessly. Shaking her head to prevent her mind from straying to inappropriate thoughts, she turned her attention towards something else. She quickened up her pace to match Neji's stride. He was obviously doing that rapid flight without breaking a sweat at all.

From behind her, she could tell that it was the same case with both Shikamaru and Tenten. Annoyance started to filter through her senses as she realized that she was the only one having a hard time keeping up with the regularity of the jumps. If she would as much as falter in her step, she would surely cause the team formation to break. She couldn't let that happen. Enemies might be following and the slightest sign of weakness in the team's defense would cause them to commence ensnarement.

Once or twice, she felt her foot slip but thankfully she was able to regain her balance without her teammates' attention being drawn. She was just relieved to know that she could at least keep up with them without grimacing or wincing in pain.

She considered asking Neji to let the team rest for a while but common sense told her that all she would receive in return for that request would be a mocking look and dubious eyes. Besides, she didn't want the arrogant jerk to see her weaknesses. She would rather die than give him the satisfaction of smirking right at her face. Pursing her lips, she made no attempt to release a single sound as she pumped more chakra into her numb legs.

Two more hours passed by but, to Sakura, it felt like 10 years. Her legs were beginning to feel as heavy as lead and she wasn't sure if she could carry on travelling any longer.

"Haruno, do you want to rest?" Her face immediately lightened up at Neji's proposition but then as she looked at him, she noticed a distinct smirk gracing his lips.

Shit. He was mocking her.

But she wasn't about to be pushed by Mr. Arrogance himself. He probably noticed her exhausted expression using his 360 degree line of vision. Damn that Byakugan.

Keeping the edge out of her voice, she said. "No thanks, I'm perfectly fine." Not.

The white-eyed prodigy snorted in obvious derision but did not utter a word. Sakura focused her gaze on a certain tree up ahead, refusing to look at him. She knew she would just see mockery plastered on his handsome features. And no, she did not just say handsome. As far as she was concerned, he was an uncaring bastard who did nothing but glare, leer and smirk.

A couple of minutes later, she felt her stomach completely turn over. She felt her instincts kick into gear as her mind broke its concentration of trying to jump safely and successfully. She felt an uneasy feeling in her gut and somehow, she just wanted to double over and throw up right then and there.

_Oh God. _

She felt nausea kick in and almost fell out of the branch she had just perched on. She halted to an abrupt stop. Vaguely, she heard Tenten utter a subtle shriek as she nearly collided with the pink-haired medic. Not caring anymore, she thrust one hand out in front of her to support herself against the tree. Collapsing in a heap, she felt her head reel over as she felt her consciousness leaving her.

In an instant, the rest of the team encased her in a protective circle as they momentarily checked for any signs of an incoming attack. Upon securing that there were none, Tenten immediately knelt beside her. She placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Sakura looked up, her face pale and drawn.

"Are you all right?" Her teammate's voice was tinged with worry.

Weakly, Sakura managed an unpersuasive nod before she felt herself engulfed in darkness.

* * *

She opened her eyes and the world slowly came into view. Vaguely noting the slight throbbing on the side of her head, she carefully sat up. She took in the white curtains, the white walls, the white beddings and groaned. She ended up being hospitalized again.

She glanced up as the door opened and her shishou walked in. Tsunade smiled. "I wanted to see you personally."

Sakura lowered her head, embarrassed.

"Don't do that. I heard all about what happened from the Hyuuga. He explained everything to me. You don't have to feel so ashamed of yourself."

Sakura raised her head. "Really? What did he say?"

Tsunade sat down on the edge of her bed. "He apologized, actually."

Sakura gaped at her with wide eyes clearly filled with confusion. "Apologized?"

Tsunade nodded and began to recount the details.

* * *

_Tsunade heard a knock on the door. "Come in."_

_Neji stepped in, slightly breathless. Leaves were sticking from his immaculately long hair. "Hyuuga" she said, surprised at his comical appearance. "What happened? Aren't you supposed to be on a mission?"_

_He bowed. "Yes, Hokage-sama. However, a puzzling emergency has occurred. Haruno has collapsed."_

_Tsunade didn't even blink. "So?"She couldn't see what was so wrong with a medic nin fainting._

"_I apologize for my lack of judgment. I should have known she was just pushing herself to keep up with us."_

_A slight frown creased Tsunade's forehead. "Sakura had trouble keeping up with you?"_

_Neji gave an abrupt nod. "That was the baffling part."_

_Tsunade immediately understood what he meant. "I'll see to her. Where are the others?"_

"_I left them with specific instructions to stay safely hidden."_

"_Find Lee and bring him as Sakura's substitute. Go."_

_In the blink of an eye, he was gone._

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Sakura shuffled through her papers. Among them, she found a letter from the Hokage. She scanned through it and immediately sighed with relief. It informed her that Neji and his team are back safely and have completed the mission successfully. It has already been a week since the start of the mission and even though she now basically had no part of it, she still worried about how they'd do. After all, she was originally part of the mission and her 'emergency' had quite robbed the team of their precious time. Even after a week, she was still frustrated at herself for showing weakness at such a critical time but she had managed to keep her irritation down onto safer levels.

However, right now, she was just relieved that there were no negative consequences to her reprehensible conduct.

She plopped down on her chair and leaned back against its broad back.

Worrying about so many things all at once has thoroughly exhausted the medic nin and all she wanted to do now was to jump on her bed and sleep the day through. Unfortunately for her she still wasn't through with her shift and whether she wanted it or not, she must endure he exhaustion until she could finish with all her obligations.

She slumped over her desk and buried her head in her arms. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself a moment of peace.

"Busy, Haruno?"

She jerked and her head shot up. Founding no one in front of her, she whipped around. "What are you doing there at the windowsill?"

Hyuuga Neji was there, sitting charmingly against the windowsill. One leg folded and one arm resting on top of it. Combined with the sunlight streaming in from outside, he looked absolutely gorgeous.

Sakura vehemently shook her head. Scowling, she regarded him. "What do you want?" she snapped.

"Why are you always so irritated when I'm around?" Neji smirked.

"Why are you always smirking when I'm around?" she countered.

Neji's smirk widened. He jumped gracefully on his feet. "Good point. Unfortunately, I myself do not have an answer to that."

"Look. I'm busy and I don't have time to talk to a ridiculously impassive ANBU captain who just doesn't have the modesty to enter through my front door."

It was now Neji's turn to frown. "Well, forgive me for trying to avoid the ridiculous stares of your medics."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm busy. So leave."

Neji glanced at her bare desk and raised his eyebrows.

Sakura rolled her eyes again.

"Well, since you're _busy_…." He said as Sakura scowled. "I'd just go straight to my point then."

Sakura waited for him but he opted to move towards the front part of her desk. She wheeled her chair around.

Neji paused and subjected her under a long, calculating look.

Sakura picked up her pen, thinking twice about lobbing it at his face. "So, Neji? We don't have all day."

He fixed her with his infamous cold gaze before speaking bluntly. "You're pregnant."

Sakura froze.

"My child."

The pen clanged noisily against the glass surface of her desk. Shocked, Sakura just gaped at him. The full impact of what he'd just said failed to hit her as she stared dazedly at him, the thought of hallucinating running through her mind. "I..I'm sorry?"

She released a nervous chuckle as searched his eyes for anysign of amusement.

There was none.

With disbelief firmly etched on her features, her eyes darted around the room as if searching for anything,_ anything_,that would verify her suspicion that this was all a rude joke.

Her wide eyes then locked on Neji's austere expression.

Suddenly, she remembered. The nausea. The morning sickness. The weird stomach cramps. The sudden physical weakness. The slight headaches. The vomiting feeling. She remembered all of them with full clarity.

Sakura's mouth fell open and unbelieving shocked eyes zeroed in on Neji. "W..What?"she sputtered.

"Is there really a need to repeat myself?" Neji couldn't believe a woman could make such a stunned expression. Her emerald eyes were so wide they could have passed on as orbs. Her mouth was hanging wide open for so long that she was in danger of being jaw locked. Her body was so stock-still frozen that even her lungs seemed to fail performing their vital role for her body. Neji could almost feel her strong defiance as she fought the denial which was already on the tip of her tongue.

Struggling not to panic, Sakura's hand shot out to her drawer. She flung it open and almost fainted at what it revealed.

Inside was two months worth of unused tampons. Two months!

Despair flooded her heart as she felt the full weight of the truth crashing onto her.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo… This absolutely cannot be happening!" Her miserable voice echoed dully inside the room. "What am I going to do!"

She stared at Neji. Who stared right back at her.

She slumped on her table, all traces of hope leaving her.

He cleared his throat, trying to dispel the image of her anguished face to the back of his mind. "I…. actually have a proposition to make."

She looked up at him with eyes so sullen he figured she's already drowning waist deep in her own misery by now. "Which is?" The lackluster quality of her voice sounded twice as dull to her own ears.

"We're going to get married."

Bland eyes slowly turned to him. "Excuse me?" she managed to say, even though it was in a dejectedly forlorn tone. Expectedly so, her brain seemed fuzzy and is currently incapable of understanding that absurdly nonsensical suggestion of his.

"We're going to get married." he repeated patiently.

Sakura suddenly gained the energy to jump up from her seat and pace back and forth across the room. Her still uncomprehending expression, however, revealed that she was still unable to process that statement he released. A pained expression crossed her countenance.

All of a sudden, she slammed one fist into the wall. If Neji had been a lesser ninja, he would've jumped of absolute fright. But as it is, genius prodigies _never_ do that. That's why he opted to just stare at the crack lines which adorned the wall.

"Excuse me again but did you just mention 'We're going to get married' to me?" Sakura's voice abruptly regained that hard steely edge she always laced her voice with.

"I see you're already back to your own self, Haruno. If truth be told, I'm quite surprised it took you that fast to regain your rational thoughts" he smirked.

The white-eyed guy just had the _nerve_ to smirk. Sakura balled her hands into fists. Sure, she understood how he could behave so coolly since he's not the one who'd have to endure nine long terrible months of pregnancy but he should at least _consider_ that what she needed is some time alone to think and not a smirk to confuse her rationality with.

"Well" Neji started. "If you're going to be pissed off like that for the rest of this discussion, we might as well save my proposition for later seeing you're not just about to accept it as easily as I would've preferred."

Sakura forced back down a seething retort. "You are one arrogant person, Hyuuga, you know that?"

"You are one violent woman, Haruno, you know that too right?"

She fought the urge to pummel him right then and there. She took a long calming breath and forced her malevolent rage down onto a perfectly controlled level. "I'm struggling to contain my temper right now, Hyuuga" Her voice dropped down into a dangerously low growl. "not because I hate to heal wounds I personally inflicted myself but because I care for my office walls as much as I value the money I would have to spend to repair the damage, do I make myself clear?" she said to him in a slow deliberate manner, making sure that he understood the full implications of what she was implying.

"Crystal."

She settled herself again on her seat and rested her chin on her entwined fingers. "So?"

Neji just raised his eyebrows at her one-syllable word.

Sakura fought off a frown. "The proposition please?"

"Just a second ago, you were vehemently opposing to it."

"Could we please stop the games, Hyuuga? I'm rather tired of hearing unpleasant surprises today." She heaved a resigned sigh.

He was rather astonished at hearing her pacified tone tinged with obvious exhaustion. He dismissed the fact that she had just called her baby, _their baby_, an unpleasant surprise.

He sighed too and ran a hand through his impeccably smooth hair. "As much as I hate being forced into marriage, Haruno, I have to say that this is the only solution we are safe with."

Sakura regarded him with a helplessly imploring gaze. "Isn't there any other thing we can do? I mean, I can't get married to you just like that!"

Neji looked away. "Trust me. I've already spent countless of sleepless nights mulling over this situation."

"You did?" It was now Sakura's turn to raise her eyebrows.

A frown creased Neji's handsome features and he looked at her as if there was something wrong with her. "Yes. I did. Surely, you yourself didn't rule out the possibility that you'd get pregnant. Did you?"

Sakura involuntarily bit her lower lip. Actually, she had spent the last two months trying fervently to sever any memory of what had happened that night. Naturally, her thoughts wouldn't even travel that far down that direction, would it?

"……"

"Oh please, Haruno. How could you be so absent minded when you know we haven't used any protection that time?"

"Don't you dare blame me, Hyuuga. I'm trying to contain my temper here." she snapped.

Neji cleared his throat. "Well, if you haven't slept with anyone since that time, then I'm sure that that child definitely is mine and I'm not accusing you of being a slut or whatever." he said as she started to open her mouth, to shout at him no doubt. "I'm just saying that if that's the case, then there's no mistaking who could be the father of that child."

Sakura suddenly found the floor amusing to look at.

"You should be grateful. I'm already saving you the trouble of breaking the news to me yourself."

Her head shot up and she glared at him indignantly. "Excuse me! If you hadn't discovered the fact that I'm pregnant, then I wouldn't have allowed you to know about the baby in the first place."

"Oh really? And what would you do?" he mocked her in that infuriating tone of his.

"I'm going to raise the baby myself of course!"

"Fatherless?"

"Yeah!"she huffed. "After all, I can think of a lot of guys who'd be willing to adopt the child as their own." She inwardly winced as she prayed that it wouldn't have to be Naruto or even Lee.

Neji raised his eyebrows. "And if the child came out with the Byakugan?" _Which it would surely do, _he wanted to add. "What are you going to do then?"

For a moment, Sakura was speechless. She hadn't thought of the bloodline limit, dammit!

"See? Think about it. This marriage is going to save both our asses." Neji broke the silence in the room. "If the child is fatherless and comes out with my clan's abilities, it would spell trouble not only for you but also for me too."

Sakura couldn't help feeling confused. "I can see why it would be upsetting for you since it wouldn't look good for a Hyuuga to impregnate a woman and leave her to do all the obligations of raising the child all by herself… but I absolutely do not understand what bad it would do me." She folded her arms across her chest.

Neji stared at her for a moment as if asking if she really couldn't see what was so painfully obvious. "The people would regard you as a bimbo."

The point hit Sakura square in the face.

"The people would see you as a brainless woman who got herself involved in a mistake she couldn't undo." Neji knew he was definitely hitting a nerve. "They're going to----"

"I get the point, Hyuuga. There's absolutely no need to rub it in my face, you know." She sighed resignedly. "But still, even though you've gotten me to admit that you're right, we just cannot get married to each other!"

Once more, Neji fixed her with his impassive stare.

Oh, please. Do I really have to spell it out to him?

"We don't even love each other!" she cried out indignantly.

She was then surprised to see the starting traces of a smirk gracing his lips. "Oh yeah, I forgot." He sneered. "You're in love with that Uchiha."

She rolled her eyes at him. Geez, he was so outdated. She isn't the Sakura who was smitten with Sasuke anymore. "That's so not the point, genius. What I mean to say is, don't you believe that the one who's perfectly right for you will arrive at the right place and at the right time?"

Seeing the blank look on Neji's face, she felt almost sad that he doesn't even have that pacifying thought of finding his soulmate to keep him inspired. "Don't you even believe in 'soulmates'?"

"No." he smirked. "But if you really insist on believing in soulmates.." he said. "then you better tell Uchiha you're sorry."

"Coz you're marrying me."

* * *

A/N: How was it? Any suggestions for next chap? Please review.

Sakura begged him with her eyes imploringly. "Isn't there any other thing we can do?"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Please REVIEW…. Your reviews inspire me to write. Sorry for the long wait. Hope you enjoy this chapter :))))

**GOLDEN RULE: Share your opinions. **

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**IT STARTED WITH A NIGHT**

**By KeepMeInspired**

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Chapter III**

"Damn it, Ino! I can't believe this is happening to me!" Sakura paced back and forth in her living room. "Damn! This is so….FRUSTRATING!"

Ino was lounging on the sofa, seemingly unflustered by her friend's rampage. She sighed. "Think about the positive side, Sakura. You're marrying into a prominent clan."

"Prominent clan, your face! I'm going to die spending more than a day with that cold-hearted bastard." She ran a hand roughly through her hair. This can't be happening. Absolutely not. She just doesn't have the heart to believe that she was now a few days away from being married. The past month had passed in a blur of meeting-the-parents bullshit and formal gatherings to announce their "engagement". Now, it was exactly one month, two days and 13 hours since Neji had broken that piece of surprise right in her face.

Sakura felt her knees weaken at the mere thought of changing her family name to Hyuuga. Her face twisted into a pained expression.

"Bear it, you idiot." Ino snapped at her. "You have to take responsibility, you know. If not, it's the baby who's going to suffer."

Sakura slumped down beside her best friend and buried her face in Ino's shoulders.

* * *

"Are you all right?" Ino took hold of Sakura's sweating hands.

"I—. I'm fine." Sakura took a deep breath and fixed her eyes on the full-length mirror in front of her. As much as she hated being married today, it would be too much of a shame for the bride to come out looking ragged and pale. She brought a smile to her face, trying to bring back the pink tinge which normally colors her cheek.

She twirled around and the majestic white flowing gown twirled with her.

* * *

"Do you, Haruno Sakura, take this man, Hyuuga Neji to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

She gulped.

Neji stared at her. She felt her heart thump nervously.

_Shit. Don't stare at me. I'm melting._

_Damn. So many people are staring. I can't believe I have to go through this this early in my life._

_I'm never going to get married again after we divorce!_

_Stop staring at me with those eyes!_

Sakura felt herself being pulled by Neji's gaze.

_Shit! This is so embarrassing._

"Sakura-san?"

She jumped at the priest's voice. "H—Hai?"

"Yes or no?"

For a moment, she was lost. _What the hell was Yes or No?_

Then she caught sight of Ino, burning holes into her as she glared from her seat at the front.

"Uhh—Y--Yes?"

The priest's expression became puzzled. "With a question mark?"

"Yes with a question mark." She said. "I mean, yes with no question mark."

For some reason, there was weird silence.

"I mean…. That is… My answer is.." _Oh fuck it. _"YES, I'M MARRYING THIS ICE BLOCK IN FRONT OF ME!"

* * *

After that terribly embarrassing blunder, Sakura found herself totally humiliated to the core.

Right after the ceremony, Ino, being the best friend that she was started commenting loudly and purposefully how cute of Sakura to refer to Neji with his petname during the wedding.

_Petname, my face. As if somebody would believe that. _Sakura slumped on the sofa and rubbed her face with her palms. A feeling of frustration was gnawing viciously in her guts right now. She wanted to pummel someone, to vent her vexation on somebody worthy of it. Her eyes landed on the bastard. I mean, her husband.

"Don't you just stare at me like such a weirdo, Hyuuga." She seethed in between clenched teeth.

Neji fought the urge to roll his eyes at her. It would just be such a waste of effort. "You're forgetting, _Sakura_, you're already a Hyuuga too."

Sakura's eyes snapped to him. "Fine! I know! Stop rubbing it my face, will you?"

"Can we please stop our bickering? It would just exhaust us to no end."

"As if."

* * *

Twenty-four hours later, Sakura found herself in a totally unfamiliar place.

_Where the hell are we?_

As if sensing her question, Neji said. "This is the Hyuuga's ancestral manor."

She raised her eyebrows. "And what are we supposed to be doing here?" she asked suspiciously.

For the first time, Neji wondered if it would have been better if he just hadn't married her. "Hell, are you dumb or something?"

"No, I'm not. I just thought you would do me a favor by saying that this is not what I think it is."

"Well, you're off for a big surprise, Sakura."

Smirk.

Sakura felt her heart sink.

"Cause this surely is what you think it is."

* * *

That night,

"Great. Just great. You know that?" Sakura glowered at the receiver as if Ino could see that from the other end of the line.

"Shut up, pig. I heard you're now at the famous ancestral mansion of the Hyuugas." Ino's voice screamed. "I'm so jealoussssssss!" Sakura could almost picture Ino's expression dripping with envy. But still----------

"Fuck you, Yamanaka. Do you know how life terribly sucked here?" A steely edge crept into her voice.

"Stop cursing me or else I'm really going to desert you."

"Fine." Sakura's tone was defeated.

"Let's have an agreement, shall we?" Ino said.

"What now?"

"You. Are. Forbidden. To. Call. Me…… In the two weeks duration of your honeymoon." She rushed her string of words so as not to give Sakura any chance to protest.

"w-WHAT?!!" Sakura nearly dropped the phone in shock. "NO! You can't do this. Ino! You know you can't! I mean, what the hell then is going to happen to me here?"

"You should sort things out between you and Neji, you pig." Ino smirked. _Yeah, this is cruel_, she thought, _but this is for the best. _"And don't _ever _call me again unless you're already in fine terms with your husband."

Then the line went dead.

* * *

Totally hopeless, Sakura tried to give Ino's proposition a chance. She took in a very deep breath before entering the bedroom, (the where–she-was-sure-they-would-have-to-sleep-together bedroom, mind you) to find Neji seemingly asleep with his shirt off and one arm splayed over his eyes.

_Gosh, was he hot_ was the first thought that crossed her mind and she mentally thought of banging her head against the wall. _Hot, my face,_ she thought, _That was the most absurd thing I've ever heard of. _

Neji seemed to be sound asleep to her. _But that can't be_, she mused. _He just came in 30 minutes ago. There's no way he could have fallen that deeply asleep within 30 minutes. Is there?_

"Uhmm…. Neji?" she called tentatively. "

He moved neither muscle nor bone.

"Uhmm.. Neji..k-kun?" _Might as well start playing my role of caring wife now._

Still, Neji didn't move.

She hesitated then stepped inside. She approached the bed and sneaked a peak at her, she hated to admit it, husband.

"Neji, dinner's ready."

Nothing. She rolled her eyes and fought the urge to strangle him. She knew her temper just wouldn't last with him involved.

"Neji." It started out as a growl. "If you don't listen to me right now, I'm. Going. To. Strangle. You. To. Death."

She shoved Neji hard enough to topple him off the bed. Sure enough, he slid over the edge. A loud crash echoed all throughout the house as Neji's hand came in contact with the vase on the bedside table and brought it with him on his fall. Sakura gasped in shock.

"N-Neji!" She ran over to the other side.

Neji released a bunch of gibberish sound.

"Oi!"she shook him. "Are you fine?"

He looked at her with glazed eyes.

Sakura frowned. "Are you drunk?"

He attempted to shake his head but found it required too much of an effort. He groaned.

She remembered who he went out with that day.

Naruto and Shikamaru.

After bringing her to the mansion and after she expressed her desire to be left alone, he went out saying the two other boys invited him over to drink.

Sakura snatched the telephone by the bed, started to dial Naruto's number, hesitated, and started calling Shikamaru instead.

"Hello?" A groggy voice sounded at the other end of the line. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?"

They got drunk alright.

"You assholes." She wanted to scream back at him but knew that that would just be a pointless thing to do since drunk people usually find it hard to think rationally. But seeing as it was Shikamaru, she tried drumming some sense into his brain. "Are you nuts? I am freakin' livid right now! You know why? You just got Neji drunk when we all know that he has low alcohol tolerance!"

Silence issued at first as if Shikamaru was still processing what she had just said to him. "Low alcohol tolerance? Neji? Really?"

"Yes really. And now he's passed out drunk."

Manical laughter came from the other end. "Oh? Is that true? I never knew that. How do you know, Sakura-chan?" More ridiculous laughter.

_Gosh, they really are drunk._

_And, he asks, how did she know about his alcohol tolerance?_

"Well, since that low alcohol tolerance of his is the primary reason why were all caught up in this jumble of secret and lies, then of course, I would know about it." She spat out sarcastically. "And since you have no sense of mind whatsoever right now, then good bye." And she slammed the receiver down so hard it rattled off its case.

She heard Neji moan. She glanced down at him and saw that she was cradling him in her lap. She rolled her eyes.

_Oh you hot drunken bastard. _

* * *

Sakura got up with more difficulty than she first thought. She hooked her arms under Neji's and proceeded in her attempt to drag him back up to bed.

"Damn you, Hyuuga." She gritted her teeth and said in between heaves.

_If the clan so much as hears about this incident, he's surely going to be dead. What kind of clan heir is one who goes around drinking like some ordinary person?_

Finally, with one final heave, she was able to place him back on the bed.

Gathering up the blankets, she wrapped them around Neji and tucked him in.

The moon rose and moonlight filtered through the open window. It hit Neji's sleeping face and Sakura noticed how it highlighted his peaceful expression.

She sat down at the edge of the bed and gazed at him. "It must be hard, right? To gain so many achievements just because you're expected to."

She sighed. "Who would have thought that an ice block like you would have such a peaceful expression while sleeping?" she whispered to nobody in particular.

She stared at him for the longest time.

She watched how the moonlight hit his face.

How his hair streamed out onto the pillow like smooth silk.

How his chest heaved up and down with every breath he takes.

How his mouth were perfect shapes of two elegantly-sculpted bows.

She thought of how he would have looked now with his eyes open, the silver of it glinting in the moonshine.

She would have stared at him much longer. She was perfectly comfortable watching him sleep. It was kind of nostalgic how she used to do this with Naruto or Sasuke when they got drunk, or worse, injured. Just like this, she would stare at them for hours and just contemplate. One would she was in love with those two. But no. She just enjoys watching over somebody. It gives her a way to relax.

Just like now.

She was peacefully watching Neji as he slept.

When he suddenly opened his eyes.

And found her staring at him.

He frowned.

She froze.

"S-Sak…..?"

WHAM!

Before he knew it, a pillow hit him hard in the face and a panic-stricken pink-haired woman dashed out of the room in total alarm.

* * *

Neji woke up with a splitting headache. It felt like somebody was opening it up in half. He sat upright and the blanket slid off his bare chest.

The smell of sausage and eggs wafted in through the half closed door.

Wondering what the hell that could be, he forced himself to go out to the kitchen. What he found there totally surprised him.

"Sakura?"

She whipped around to him, clad only in her pajamas and a sleeveless shirt which clearly accentuated her figures. He tore his gaze away from that part.

"What are you doing?"

"Uhmmm.."she hesitated. "Cooking?"

Neji raised his eyebrows.

"That's what a wife's supposed to do right?"

"Oh."Neji said. "Right." He pulled out a chair and sat down. "But we're only pretending. You don't have to force yourself to cook if you can't, you know."

Sakura's eyes widened. She went to him, hands on her hips, a defiant look on her face. "You did not just say I can't cook, Hyuuga Neji."

"Uhhmm.. What I said was if you don't want to." He almost cringed. She was the spitting image of an enraged dragon right now. Well, not really. Not yet. "I didn't say you can't. I just said if you don't want to", he clarified wisely.

She shook her head at him. "Oh no, you didn't. I heard it clearly with my own two ears."

Neji just rolled his eyes at her.

A spatula went flying at him.

Which he dodged easily of course, regardless of his dizzy state.

"Temper, Haruno." He glared.

She glared back.

He glowered.

She stared.

His stare pierced.

"Oh alright. Nothing's going to happen if we just keep on glaring at each other." She placed both hands on her hips again and pinned him with her gaze. "I'm going to cook here and you're going to be silently waiting there. Understood?"

He smirked. "My mother doesn't even talk to me that way, Haruno."

She turned her back to him and sighed. _How the hell am I supposed to make this work, Ino?_

* * *

"Where did you sleep last night?"

She froze.

For some reason, any topic involving sleep, bed and Neji makes her totally uncomfortable.

"Uhmm." She groped for words. "Somewhere?"

"Somewhere isn't a specific place."

"On the couch."

"And why did you sleep on the couch?"

_Because you were sleeping on the damn bed, that's why!_

"Why not?" She raised both eyebrows at him.

Looking at her from across the table to where she stood beside the kitchen counter, he said. "You should've slept on the bed beside me."

"Are you freakin' crazy?!!"

"What?" He asked, sounding surprised. "If I recall correctly, that's the main purpose of a bed." It was now his turn to look at her quizzically.

"Uhmm.." She felt her cheeks start to flush.

Unfortunately, the damn bastard saw it and immediately caught on. Understanding dawned on him. "Oh." He chuckled, amused. "You didn't want to share the same bed did you?" He smirked. "And why is that?"

"It should be clear why." She said curtly as she turned abruptly away. _Damn you, Neji Hyuuga and your annoying smirks._

"Oh. But it isn't." It was totally obvious that he just wanted to see her suffer from the blush that was now threatening to grow redder still.

When she didn't respond, he merely sneered. It was agonizing to see actually. Sakura had the urge to pummel him then and there.

"I dreamt about something." Neji said. "It was rather vague though. It was all fuzzy." He carefully watched her guarded expression. "I thought there was somebody there beside me on the bed."

"W-w-well.. I'm pretty sure that that was just your perverted subconscious mind hallucinating."

He raised both eyebrows. _Hallucination, huh? _"I remember seeing a blur of pink." He stated matter-of-factly.

She froze.

A gesture that didn't go unnoticed by the Hyuuga, of course.

"So, it was you, huh?" he smirked. "Sneaking up to me late at night, are you?"

"No, I was not." She murmured under her breath.

"You were."

"No."

"I bet you took off my shirt too."

Sakura's eyes bulged. _This arrogant bastard! _"YOU WERE DRUNK, DAMN YOU! YOU HAVE SOME NERVE ACCUSING ME OF BEING WHAT YOU ARE? PERVERT!"

"I am not, as you say, a pervert. And you would please stop shouting? It's making my head hurt all the more."

Sakura forced back her angry retort. She enforced herself to remain calm. "Really, Neji." She said, now in a pacified yet biting voice. "You think you can play with me by fooling around with my temper, don't you?"

Neji raised both eyebrows at her. A shadow of his typical smirk lurked near the edges of his lips.

Sakura narrowed both eyes at him dangerously. She placed both hands on her hips. "Well then." she said haughtingly. She brought her chin up another notch. "You're absolutely mistaken."

* * *

A/N: **So, now what? What will happen now that Sakura and Neji are 'required' to spent two weeks together with each other? Will they be able to survive without blowing the roof of with their vicious tempers? What could possibly happen when you leave two newlyweds alone? just the two of them..**

Find out next chapter! :)))

The more reviews I get for this chap, the faster I'll be able to upload the next one. :))) Take Care .


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Please REVIEW…. Your reviews inspire me to write. :**

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**IT STARTED WITH A NIGHT**

**By KeepMeInspired**

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**Chapter IV**

[The third day of "honeymoon"…]

Sakura woke up early and decided to sit out on the front porch and wait for the sun to rise.

She passed the couch upon which Neji was lying fast asleep. She knew it was unfair for him to sleep on the couch when they're now officially married. Also, it was his family's ancestral manor so why the hell would he sleep outside the bedroom?

She sighed.

"_Busy, Haruno?"_

"_What are you doing there at the windowsill?"_

_Hyuuga Neji was there, sitting charmingly against the windowsill. One leg folded and one arm resting on top of it. Combined with the sunlight streaming in from outside, he looked absolutely __gorgeous__. _

"_Whatever. I'm busy. So leave."_

"_Well, since you're busy…." He said as Sakura scowled. "I'd just go straight to my point then."_

"_You're pregnant." _

_Sakura froze._

"_My child."_

_Shocked, Sakura just gaped at him. "I..I'm sorry?"_

_Suddenly, she remembered. The nausea. The morning sickness. The weird stomach cramps. "W..What?"_

"_Is there really a need to repeat myself?" _

_Inside her desk was two months worth of unused tampons. Two months!_

"_Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo… This absolutely cannot be happening!" _

"_I…. actually have a proposition to make."_

"_Which is?" _

"_We're going to get married."_

"_Excuse me?"._

"_We're going to get married." he repeated patiently._

"A penny for your thoughts?" A deep baritone interrupted her musings.

She turned around. "It's actually gonna cost you more than that." Neji smirked. She smiled.

"Good morning, Hyuuga."

"Good morning, _Sakura_." He lowered himself down beside her. When he awoke, he found Sakura sitting on the front porch and staring into space. He then decided to accompany his wife and this is what he gets in return. _Hyuuga? _

Great.

"I'm sorry. I should've gotten used to calling you by your first name by now." She shrugged. "It just doesn't feel right."

"Hn."

"Yet." She added.

"Right."

Sakura fixed Neji with her gaze. _What is wrong with him? _"Look, Hyuuga. I'm really trying my best here. Don't go ruining your wife's pleasant morning."

"I am doing no such thing."

"Then go cook breakfast."

"Excuse me?" Neji stared at her.

She pursed her lips together and pointed them at the kitchen.

Neji's expression was priceless!

He continued to stare at her incredulously and when she nodded towards the kitchen, he followed with his eyes. His eyebrows shot up in surprise and disbelief. _Did this woman just demand breakfast from me?_

Sakura observed Neji's face closely. It was incredibly funny! She could guess what was running through his mind right now.

**HAHA!**

Sakura couldn't hold it in any longer. She started giggling and the tiny chuckles developed into loud laughter. "Priceless, I tell you!" HAHAHA!

She was laughing so hard, she was having trouble catching her breath. When she caught sight of Neji's vexed expression however, she stopped abruptly.

She composed herself and sneaked glances at him from under her lashes.

Neji's stare pierced through her. She squirmed and cleared her throat. "I'll go cook now." She managed to mutter demurely.

"Very funny." Neji folded his arms across his chest and chased her away with his irritated glare.

_Geez. Such a scary person. _

Sakura picked up the phone and dialed Ino's number. The bitch didn't pick up. _Ino!_

She considered calling Tenten. _But she's Neji's teammate! And they're close!  
_

She thought of her third best friend, Hinata. _But she's his cousin, you freak!_

_Ino__, Tenten or Hinata?_

She decided on the weapons master first.

"Hello?" Tenten's voice was heard at the receiver.

"Tenten!"

"Hey, you're supposed to be on honeymoon!"

"Puh-lease! Two weeks alone with just that guy to talk to? I'm gonna go nuts."

"I've survived him." She could imagine Tenten shrugging at the other end of the line. "What seems to be the problem between you two?"

Well, for one, aside from Neji's uncle, only Ino (and for this, Sakura had to threaten and blackmail her to no end to shut her mouth up for a change and keep this secret) knew about the main reason why they were forced to get married. She couldn't just say 'We aren't in love!" to Tenten right now.

She bit her lower lip angrily.

"Uh, I don't know." She opted to say. "He's out right now so I don't have somebody to talk to."

Across from her, Neji lounged at the porch and was meditating. With his shirt off!

"Well then, you should use this time to plan an exciting night for both of you later." She sniggered.

"Shut the fuck up, Tenten. You're suggesting such malicious-What was that?" A loud bang had sounded from Tenten's end of the line.

"Oh, Ino's here. She just banged my door open."

"Ino? Wait, don't-"

"Who's that you're talking to?" Ino's voice floated to her.

"Sakura." Tenten answered flatly.

Sakura wanted to hit her friend in the head.

"Oh really?" She heard Ino say.

The next thing she knew Ino was talking to her on the phone. "Hey, Mrs. Hyuuga. How's it going?"

"Fine." She said through pressed lips.

"Have you… had your first night yet?" Ino chuckled.

Sakura breathed heavily. "You forget. We've already had it." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh right! But I meant, consciously this time." Sakura could feel Ino's teasing eyes from the other end.

"Whatever, Ino. I'm hanging up."

"Wait! You should report first."

"Uh-" _What report? There's nothing to report, dammit!_ "Sorry, Neji's calling for me now." And she placed the phone down on Ino's "You're such a bad liar, Sakura."

"I wasn't calling for you." Neji, still shirtless, emerged from the kitchen doorway where he had gotten himself a bottle of water. There were the telltale signs of a smirk on his lips.

She just rolled her eyes at him.

She flopped down on the couch and heaved a huge sigh of ennui. Neji sat down beside her.

"Put a shirt on please." She told him flatly.

Neji only raised his eyebrows at her.

She glared at him.

"Well if you're bored…" He said and slowly leaned in closer to her. "I can surely entertain you." His lips made contact with her earlobe.

She jerked and pushed him frantically away. "PERVERT!"

A chuckle issued from him. "Don't pretend. I know you like it."

"Ha!" she scooted over to the other end of the sofa, as far away from him as possible. "You wish!"

"Why are you neglecting your husband like this?" he said as he eyed her seductively. "As the wife, you have the responsibility to appease my _raging_ hormones you know."

A vase nearly hit his face.

* * *

"You are one violent woman."

Glare.

"That was antique."

Glare.

"That was a Hyuuga heirloom."

"It was your damn fault!"

Smirk.

* * *

The days went by definitely **not** in a blur.

Each moment of every day was unbelievably frustrating. The hands of the clock seemed to be moving in slow motion. The sunrise and the sunset seemed to have lost their sense of time.

"How long have I been trapped here?" She muttered in a defeated voice.

"7 days."

From her cross-legged position, shoulders slumped and all, she turned her head slowly sideways to the husband meditating with his eyes closed beside her.

"Put me into a 7-day slumber please." She muttered in a barely audible voice.

"If you could just stop whining, you can turn this 2-week honeymoon into something much more bearable."

"What, like meditate shirtless on the porch every day?" she rolled her eyes at him.

Eyes closed, he smirked. He then opened them. "That wouldn't be such an eyesore." His gaze dropped audaciously to her chest.

Sakura wrapped her arms around her and glared. "You perv."

"Hn. Don't regard yourself so highly, Haruno. I know you're dying to see me naked."

Her jaw fell and she gaped at him incredulously. _What did he just say?_

"Excuse me, Hyuuga!" she shifted around to fully face him. "For your information, I, as a medic-nin, have seen bodies way more gorgeous than yours." She declared haughtily. She raked her eyes nonchalantly over his upper body as if to prove her point.

"I, on the other hand," Neji matched her glare with a stare. "…have sexiergirls literally _begging_ me to undress them."

Sakura abruptly covered both her ears with her hands. "Oh. My. Gosh. I don't want to hear you talking about your sex life." she pressed her eyes shut for a more dramatic effect. "Spare me—the gory details."

He smirked, that gorgeous trademark of his. "Jealous, dear wife?"

"Absolutely not." She scowled at him.

"Right." He nodded teasingly.

Sakura threw her hands up exasperatedly. Her glower didn't dissipate one bit. "I'd gladly trade my position with one of your concubines if they'd-Wait, where are you pulling me?"

Neji had suddenly grabbed her hand and was dragging her outside.

Smirk.

"Let's spar."

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was filled with clanks and clinks as kunais and shurikens collided with each other.

"Byakugan."

Neji's 360 degree vision allowed him unrestricted view of his surroundings. He swept the grounds for any sign of pink. _Dammit she's nowhere to be seen._

"Come out, Sakura."

A slight blur of movement on his left. His kunai shot out.

A loud thump revealed it to be a log.

_Tsk._

Sakura was not the genjutsu type of ninja. She prefers taijutsu and ninjutsu every time. However, Neji, being the tensai (genius) that he is, made sure that he kept his distance from her. She's one violent woman. One punch from her could prove to be fatal.

That leaves ninjutsu on the list. Most probably, she's already at her chakra limit by now.

Movement from the tree branch above. With lightning speed, he threw a kunai upwards. _Sakura._

There was silence as the tree leaves rustled. Neji trained his face upwards, squinting because of the sunlight.

Suddenly. Something dripped down from above. It hit his cheek.

He reached up and swiped it off.

Blood.

He stared at it disbelievingly.

Then another drop of blood fell down and hit him.

And another.

And another.

His head snapped up. "Sakura."

Without even bothering to wipe the blood off his face or perhaps he had forgotten, he sprinted his way up the towering tree. In a blur, he jumped from branch to branch. A split second later, he arrived, panting and with a serious look in his face, at the topmost.

Sakura was there alright.

He scanned her hastily with his Byakugan for any sign of open wound. The kunai he threw was equipped with heavy chakra. If indeed it had hit her, he was sure it would have landed on one of her tenketsu points. And if, as he assumed, she was out of chakra, having one of her points hit could have a serious toll on her.

However, as he scanned her thoroughly with his bloodline limit, he found that there seemed to be nothing physically wrong with her.

Sakura whipped around to find Neji surveying her with his Byakugan. He had this puzzled frown on his face. And blood.

"Neji!"

"Hn." A little smirk. "Finally."

For a moment, she was sidetracked. "Finally what?" she asked, confused.

"You called me Neji." Smirk, a little wider this time.

"Well, whatever." She waved her hands off dismissingly. Hands with specks of blood.

Neji's frown returned to his face.

"Did I hit something?"

"Damn right you did." Sakura had her back turned to him. He stepped nearer in order to see what her two hands are busy doing.

Over her shoulder, he saw a bird.

Dead.

Nailed to the tree.

With his kunai.

Sakura had her hands all over it and green chakra emitted from them.

He released the breath he just realized he was holding.

"The bird's dead."

"Yeah. Because of you." She muttered somewhat bitterly.

"Hey it's just a bird."

She turned around with a whip of her hair. "It's an innocent being, Neji!"

He felt the strong urge to roll his eyes at her but managed to stop himself. "Well, sorry then." he said. "Want me to bury it." Just beneath the mock concern, there was sarcasm.

Of course, Sakura didn't fail to notice this.

He was rewarded with a scowl.

She turned back to the bird, released one last batch of healing chakra then when it still showed no signs of life, finally gave up.

She sprung to her feet. "What had you running up here in the first place, huh?" She was wiping her hands on a handkerchief.

Neji cleared his throat.

But didn't answer.

Sakura glanced at him. "It seems like I married a mute person here." She snorted contemptuously.

She jumped to the tree branch across, not bothering to wait for him.

"Well…" He said in a barely audible voice. Nevertheless, it made her pause out of curiosity. "…I thought it was your blood." He shrugged offhandedly.

"Awwh. That was sweet." Sakura chuckled. Neji jumped to her tree branch. "If I didn't know you for the ice block that you are, my heart would have melted." She sniggered teasingly.

Glare.

Teasing smile.

Stare.

Stare.

After a while of silent eye interaction, both erupted in laughter. Well, at least that's what it was for Sakura's case. What Neji did was sport just a tiny hint of a smile on his gorgeous lips.

Still giggling, Sakura reached out a hand and gently wiped away the blood on Neji's cheek.

She thought his smile widened just a little bit.

She took his hand in hers. "Let's go home." She beamed at him.

* * *

A/N: oohhh. A happy ending, I guess. Suggestions and reviews please =)) They'll be very much appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hope you like this chapter! Reviews please! :))

**IT STARTED WITH A NIGHT**

**By KeepMeInspired**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter V**

That night, Neji offered to cook dinner. (Hell yeah!)

But then…

Sakura made the mistake of trying on one of her annoying pranks on him as he was cooking.. .

….which caused their roles to interchange.

She handled the dishes noisily. No way was she in a mood to hide her annoyance. "You should wash the dishes, Neji."

He smirked. "You wish."

"Hey, it's unfair. Help your wife out here."

"It's your own fault." He said as he walked towards her. "You got me annoyed."

"I said sorry!" Sakura frowned at the frying pan as she sautéed the spices in it. "You should learn to forgive."

"Yeah shut up. I'll just watch from here."

Green orbs glared at him. "Stop standing right beside the frying pan, you might get burned."

"Concerned much?" He scoffed.

She huffed and placed one hand on her hip. "I think you're pushing your luck there, Hyuuga. I've been trying to be nice to you the whoooole day."

"Don't worry. 7 more days and we're out of this dilemma."

"We'll never be out of this dilemma." She managed a dejected sigh.

* * *

Sakura sat down on the couch opposite Neji's.

Dinner went by uneventfully.

They were sitting in the living room.

Neji was reading a magazine.

Sakura sat there and pondered. Neji was handsome, alright. He's smart, athletic, and hot. What could she not like about him?

_He's a bastard remember?, _answered a voice in her head.

Yeah, a hot bastard at that.

It's like he was sculpted by the gods themselves. Those strong biceps connected to the lean torso, narrowing down to sexy hips and then to long, smooth-to-the-touch legs. Add that silky raven hair. He was a god.

Neji cleared his throat.

And Sakura jumped.

"Liked what you saw, Sakura?"

She didn't need to see his face to know that he had that mocking expression on his face.

"Wipe that silly expression, Neji. You're a perv forever."

"Why do you call me a perv when I'm not suggesting anything malicious here?"

"Shut up." She placed both hands at her ears. "You're ruining my innocent mind."

"Innocent mind?" Neji scoffed. "Innocent? Are you really saying that after what we've been through together?"

Sakura eyes widened warningly.

"Do you want us to relive that night, Sakura-chan?" Who could've resisted a voice as silky sexy as that? But of course, she did. She didn't trust herself to speak though so she kept her mouth shut.

Neji lowered the magazine to the table. He stood up and made a move towards her.

"O! Don't you dare come near me!" She crossed her arms in front of her.

He smirked. "Idiot. I'm going to my room to sleep."

"Pssh. There's no such thing as _your _room in this house." She whispered under her breath as he passed by.

* * *

_3 days, 13 hours and 12 minutes to go._

Sakura was bored to her wits.

Shit. I've been stuck with him for too long.

She decided to call Ino.

On the third ring, her blonde best friend picked up. "Hello?"

"Ino, it's me—"

"Sakura! I'm gonna hang up-"

"No-wait-please-don't-put-the-phone-down"

A huge sigh from the other end of the line. "What is it now?"

"I'm bored"

"Where's your husband?"

As if on cue, Neji entered the living room.

"Uhh- training outside.", Sakura said.

"So, what's the problem now huh?"

"I don't know. Release me from this bondage. I don't feel well being stuck in here."

"Oh come on, suck it up. You got what, 2 more days to go?"

"Three.", she sighed dejectedly.

Sakura held the wireless phone and cradled it as she went out to the porch. "How's it going in the outside world?"

"Nothing much. Same as usual. Shikamaru asked me out."

Sakura would've squealed in delight if she hadn't caught Neji, out of the corner of her eye, looking at her general direction.

"Ohmygosh! That is BIG news!"

On the other end, Ino was giggling.

"You've been waiting for this for the longest time, Ino-pig!"

"I know! I'm just so glad it happened before I turned old and…" Ino's voice began to fade from her ears. Suddenly, Sakura's vision blurred. She swayed and was able to realize, only after a full second of lightheadedness, that she was fainting and that she was holding on to nothing but the wireless phone.

On the other end, Ino heard a crash. "Sakura? Hello? Hello?"

She could hear Neji calling Sakura's name from the receiver.

"Sakura? Sakura, hey!"

A male baritone answered. "She fainted. I'm going to take her to the hospital."

* * *

Slowly, she opened her eyes and was met with white. White sheets. White curtains. White walls. The first person she saw was this booby blonde woman.

"Well, well, well. You're finally awake."

"Godaime-sama", she croaked.

From Tsunade's left, a hand stuck out holding a water bottle. Sakura moves her head to that direction and sees Neji leaning casually against the wall.

Tsunade smiled softly and received it. "Here. Your husband says take care."

Sakura couldn't help but smile even when Neji's face was as impassive as always. "Thanks."

"You fainted."

"I'm sorry." Sakura said sheepishly.

"Why are you saying sorry?" Neji spoke up suddenly in that deep luscious voice of his. "Was it your fault?"

Sakura just stared at him, confused.

"I told you to tell me when you're not feeling well. Do you think it's funny suddenly seeing your wife faint in front of you?"

He had his arms crossed over his chest and he had this scowl on his face.

Despite all he said, Sakura couldn't help but smile. "Do you like me now, Neji?"

The door slammed as he left the room.

Tsunade and Sakura exchanged stares.

"D'you think he's guilty?" Sakura giggled playfully.

"I think you pissed him off."

* * *

Ino visited an hour later.

"They said it's just a minor thing. You fainting might have been caused by lack of proper intake of vitamins."

Sakura didn't seem the least bit surprised.

"Of course, you'd fail to live up to your reputation if you hadn't figured that out by now."

The corners of Sakura's mouth lifted up. She totally loved her best friend.

"Which brings us to the question, why didn't you take vitamins, Sakura? Are you stupid?"

Sakura looked down guiltily. "I- I guess I was hoping…"

She looked up then at her friend with pleading eyes.

Ino hitched up a shaky breath. "Don't you give me that look, Haruno Sakura. I know what that means."

"If you know, then you'd understand how I feel right now."

Ino just gazed at her.

"You know I didn't plan for a child! I still have a career to develop, Neji has one too! We're both too young and unprepared for this!" Sakura sat upright and grabbed Ino's arm.

"So you thought being irresponsible once more is gonna solve this mess?"

"No. It's just—It's-I figured it's not yet too late. Maybe we worried about nothing."

Ino squeezed her best friend's hand before reaching into her bag and handing her a note. "I made the test for you. You're 1 month and three weeks into this."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly as she took the paper from Ino's hands.

"I'm sure you already confirmed it though."

Sakura could only nod her head.

* * *

When Sakura woke up again, it was nighttime.

Neji was there beside her, reading a book. He placed it down as she stirred under her sheets. "You'll be discharged tomorrow. We'll end the honeymoon at that. We'll be going home tomorrow to the Hyuuga compound."

She regarded him with her gaze. "No."

"No?" he repeated, as if he couldn't believe his ears. "You're not thinking of divorcing me this early, are you? Cause that would be downright stupid and impractical."

Damn.

"Shut up, Hyuuga, before I punch your lights out. Of course, I know that would be absolutely stupid." She nearly flared up. "What I'm saying no to is the idea of me living in the Hyuuga compound."

"And why is that?" He raised elegant eyebrows.

"I don't want to be depending on your family. Besides, I am fully capable of raising myself and my child in my apartment."

"It's _our _child."

"Fine."

"You do realize though that this means I'm gonna have to move in into your cramped apartment, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes." She sighed. "And it's not a cramped space! Your house is just much too luxurious!"

"Hn."

* * *

In a few weeks time, Sakura and Neji were able to adjust fairly well to living together in her apartment. Many people wondered, however, why this newlywed opted to stay in that modest house of hers rather than the Hyuuga mansion. She kept repeating it was for the sake of having a simple life. Too much grandeur might be bad for a pregnant mom, much more for a newborn child.

By this time also, almost all of Konoha know that Sakura is pregnant. People began to treat more delicately… which pisses her off.

One time, she ranted at Ino. "I am not a f****ing invalid! Gosh, I'm around 4 months pregnant and my stomach's not even bulging that much yet!"

"Yes, I know. You're the hottest pregnant woman I ever saw."

"Ino! I am not joking. I am annoyed!"

Ino slapped her playfully on the arm. "Well, you can't blame them. I think they're excitedly waiting for another Hyuuga prodigy."

"For heaven's sake, I don't want any pressure on my child!"

"Awh don't worry! I'm sure little Neji will be fine. He'll be just as brilliant as his mom and dad." She beamed at Sakura. "And as for the other issue, just go along with it, will you? It's just a few more months and people would start sparring with you again."

Sakura scowled.

"Oh come on. That's the problem! You aren't sparring. You don't have any means to release that pent-up energy inside. You should ask Neji to let you release that energy later at midnight." Ino chuckled wickedly.

"Shut up. That's nonsense."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I think Neji has the hots for you. What kind of guy wouldn't, with a sexy preggie like you?"

"Neji's kind, apparently." A sigh.

"Wait, what's that?" Ino's eyes lighted up. "Is that disappointment I hear?"

Sakura walked out on her leaving Ino laughing alone in her room.

* * *

At home, Sakura found Neji in the living room.

"Hey, Neji."

He looked up with mild surprise. "Yes?"

"Can you pleeeaseee tell your ANBU constituents to stop treating me like I have no arms or legs?"

He smirked. "No."

"Why not?" She placed her hands haughtily on her hips.

"Because that was precisely what I told them to do."

"You crazy person. Why would you do that? You know I don't like special treatment."

A playful light danced in his eyes. "Oh trust me, you do. Just like you like complaining about it."

"Wait what, did I just hear you describe me as a hypocrite?" She wanted to punch him. Yes, her violence was far from dissipating during this stage of her life. In fact, it was even intensifying.

Neji set aside what he was doing. "No, I did not." It was as if he knew this conversation wasn't gonna end well. He knew her well.

"Yes, you did." She glared at him.

"No, I was merely saying that it'd be better for you if they treat you like the pregnant person that you are."

"Well, save it 'cause I don't need it."

"Absolutely not."

"Why do you even care? You should just leave me alone."

"Why do I care?" Neji's tone of voice shifted. "You're actually asking me that question now?"

He stood up and planted himself right in front of her. "Do you really think I'd let my child alone just like that? You must be crazy."

"No, you are!"

Neji was trying to keep his temper at bay. Sakura was seriously stomping on his pride as a father right now. "Do you see me as that kind of person? Irresponsible?"

"I said no such thing. I just said to leave me be!"

"We're husband and wife. How could I just leave you be?"

"It's just- STOP INTERVENING IN MY LIFE JUST LIKE THAT, OKAY?" Her sudden outburst surprised even her. Sakura was breathing unevenly and her face was as pink as her hair.

Neji watched her try to regain her proper mind. Slowly, she came back.

She wrung her head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you like that. It's just that it's been-"

Neji pulled her into his arms and the rest of her words were engulfed in his embrace.

"… hard for me lately."

"I know." He whispered to her ear. It took all of her willpower to fight off the shudder she felt.

"We can do this together. Let's stay strong, alright?"

Sakura went deeper into his embrace. It was good to have a sense of reassurance once in a while. She nodded.

* * *

It was a pleasant morning the next day.

"Good morning." She greeted the person beside her. Neji only grunted.

"Oh come on, sleepy head, wake up."

"Don't you be so friendly with me so early in the morning just because we reconciled quite dramatically last night." He dove under the covers.

Sakura rolled her eyes and smirked. Whatever. She jumped out of bed and whipped the curtains open.

"I'll cook breakfast." She beamed.

* * *

"So, how's marriage life going?"

"Hard."

Shikamaru scoffed. "What did you expect it to be?"

"It'd be much easier if it wasn't Sakura I married."

"You mean, the girl you got pregnant and then married." Shikamaru chuckled.

"Shut up."

"Are you, by any chance, sleeping with her? You know you can't knock her up twice right? So it's fine." Shika let out a loud chortle.

"No you idiot. How could you say that?" Neji's voice has a steely edge in it.

His friend shrugged. "I don't know. It's just that I overheard Ino and Sakura talking about sex some time ago." He chuckled in a subtler way now.

At this, Neji paused. He was surprised, alright.

"You wanna ask me if I'm sure about what I heard, right?" Shika asked as he saw the expression in Neji's face. "Yes, I'm sure."

Neji's expression remained impassive.

"Wait." Shikamaru peered closely at his friend's face. "Is it possible that… you like her?"

* * *

A/N: What did you think? Please review! :))


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry, I took so long. Hope you like this chapter Please review.**

**IT STARTED WITH A NIGHT**

**By KeepMeInspired**

* * *

**Chapter VI**

"Wait." Shikamaru peered closely at his friend's face. "Is it possible that… you like her?"

Neji's face was blank. If Shikamaru didn't know him better, he'll think he was spacing out.

"Oh shit, you do."

Neji fixed him with a stare. "You know I did not say anything like that."

"You didn't need to." Shikamaru was beaming. "Oh shit. I need to tell my girlfriend about this."

"Tell me what?" Ino suddenly popped out of nowhere. They were in Shikamaru's living room by the way.

They both said "Nothing" and "Something" at the same time.

Which of course just caused Ino's ears to perk up.

"I'm all ears." She said with a smirk on her face.

"It was nothing, trust me." Neji stated grimly.

Ino crossed her arms in front of her and turned to her boyfriend with an interested look.

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows slowly, aware that he was just within reach for Neji's 64 Hands of Hakke.

Neji seems to be aware of this too since he was regarding him with a quite cool stare.

"Well, if you got no news for me then I have some for you."

"Forget it, we're not-"

"Sakura's the hottest pregnant woman ever so WHY ARE YOU NOT SLEEPING WITH HER?"

If Neji was a lesser man, he would have choked on his saliva.

Shikamaru elbowed him. Hard.

_Oww._

"For real?" Shika exclaimed. "She said that?"

"Let the Hyuuga find out for himself." Ino scoffed and with a satisfied expression, she left the room.

* * *

"Pressure on you, old pal."

"Shut the hell up, Nara."

* * *

"Hey, you're back late."

Neji went up to his wife who was sitting curled up on their sofa. Well, on _her _sofa. But technically his also since they're married so it's _their _sofa. But it's in _her _house. You get the point.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm pregnant and I'm bored."

Neji chuckled quietly.

Sakura just stared up at him.

"Does anything hurt?"

"My ego does" _since I'm stuck at home._

Neji regarded her quietly.

Sakura crossed her arms in front of her.

"I'm sorry. It's just for a few more months and you'll be back on missions again." Neji tried to make his voice as comforting as possible. Of course, a stranger hearing this would only hear a flat tone of voice.

In Sakura's mind, questions were racing. _Do you really think that? Do you really think I'd leave my newborn child and go on month-long missions after this?_

From Neji's point of view, Sakura was spacing out with this doleful stare on her face.

"Hey." He said. "What do you wanna do then?"

_Sleep with you, _Shikamaru's voice said inside his head and Neji wanted to slap his hand across his forehead. That bastard.

"I don't know." Sakura shrugged dejectedly. "Go on and sleep. I know you're tired. Don't bother with me."

"Okay then"

And to Sakura's astonishment, Neji left.

She stared after him, open-mouthed. _Wow. Thanks for being such a gentleman._

"And oh." He paused and retraced his steps. "Did you eat already?"

"No." Sakura said, her tone with an edge.

Which of course didn't go unnoticed by Neji.

_Uh-oh. _

"What is it this time?" He implored.

"What this time?" she said shrilly.

Neji winced inwardly at the high pitch tone her voice had taken. "I know you're troubled."

"It's none of your business." She hissed and eyed him coldly.

"Did I do something?"

"None. Of . Your. Business."

_What the hell? _

At the back of his mind, he remembered what Shikamaru once told him, _My cousin was irritable 24/7 when she got on with her pregnancy._

I guess this was really just the case.

Neji sighed.

"What do you want me to do then? I concede."

"Hn." It was weird hearing Sakura say that.

With a swift motion, he grabbed her arm and pulled her up from the sofa.

"What-?"

Much to her astonishment, he pulled her out of the house.

"Where are we going?"

"Out for a romantic walk."

And Sakura's heart leapt to her throat as he smiled at her with that dazzling once-in-a-lifetime kind of smile of his.

* * *

"You know I don't need to be baby-ed, Hyuuga."

"Neji."

"What?" She asked, confused.

"Neji." He said simply. "I want you to call me Neji from now on."

Despite herself, she smiled. "You have some nerve."

"You finally got to calling me Neji before. It's unfair for you to keep on switching which name to use."

"Well then you have to call me Sakura from now on also."

"I do that." Neji said defensively.

"No, you call me Haruno when you're pissed off… Which is like 3/5 of the time."

"That's just because _you're _pissed at _me _most of the time."

They were walking along Konoha streets, not really aiming for any direction in particular. It was quite a peaceful night and the moon was shining beautifully up in the sky. Sakura had always imagined talking romantic moonlight walks with her husband. That was before she married Neij, of course, since she didn't expect this ice-block to do anything of this kind with her.

But then, here they were..

Strolling around Konoha at this time of the night.

"I am _not _pissed at you most of the time!"

"Yes you are."

"That's just because pregnant people really have this kind of temper."

"Hn.. You were like this even before."

"That's not true!" she said indignantly.

Neji smiled quietly. He wasn't looking at her but at their surroundings.

Finally, he heard a sigh from the person beside him.

"I'm sorry then."

"Hn."

Sigh. "There you go again."

Neji turned to her. "What?"

"Hn? Honestly, hn? I don't even get what that syllable connotes!" Sakura crossed her arms in front of her.

Neji contemplated on her statement for a minute. It was the first time somebody had the guts to point that out so he never really paid any attention to that syllable before. "It's… a universal expression." Was the best thing he could come up with.

"Exactly!" she threw her hands up exasperatedly. "You're making me guess what you mean!"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you do! Can't you just tell me?" She shrugged nonchalantly. "It gives me sleepless nights."

Neji stopped walking. They were in a residential area. Except for some passersby, nobody was there except the two lamp posts at both ends of the street.

"I give you sleepless nights?"

Sakura looked back, surprised that he stopped walking. "Huh?"

"You think of me when you go to sleep then?" He was trying to hide a grin.

"Wha-? No!" She replied much too fast.

"No need to stress yourself. I know now." Again, that grin threatened to come out. But he's sure she could already sense it. That's why she's being so defensive.

"I told you that wasn't the case!"

"What's wrong with thinking about your husband before falling asleep?" He resumed walking, leaving Sakura to go catch up with him.

"You are conceited, Hyuuga." She said quietly.

"Neji."

"Fine."

"Do you hate me?"

"What?"

"I said, Do you hate me?" His tone became all serene and Sakura wondered if Neji was having a personality disorder tonight. I mean, he can't be normal if he's like this, right?

She was a bit taken aback. "What? What kind of question is that?"

"Answer."

"No, of course not. You took responsibility for our mistake, after all." She shrugged and gave the most impersonal answer she could reply.

"Don't go calling our child a mistake."

Sakura eyed him. Neji's _definitely _acting weird tonight. It started the moment he entered the house and asked if she was fine. **Hyuuga Neji does NOT do that**. "Fine. Why are you being such a drama queen tonight?"

He ignored her.

"And would you please wipe that peculiar look off your face."

"What look?"

"That look I'm not used to seeing on your face." _That serene look on your face. Like you're in peace._

At this, he smirked. "There is no such thing."

"That's better."

"What is?"

"Your smirk." _The smirk I came to like._

He paused suddenly and looked up at the sky, as if contemplating something. His hands were in his pockets. He breathed deeply and sighed.

"If you don't hate me… then do you like me?"

Sakura was so taken aback she nearly stumbled on her own two feet. She even choked. "Wh—what?"

"You ask me to repeat things quite often."

"No. I meant- I-"

She glanced up at him, at a loss for words. "I didn't- " She gaped openly at him. _What exactly is this person thinking? "_You're asking if I-"

The rest of the sentence got dissolved in her surprised gasp as Neji's hand grabbed her and pulled her towards him. His other hand was on the back of her neck and the next instant, he was kissing her.

He kissed her like nobody ever kissed her before. He pressed his lips against hers softly at first. His right hand pulled her in more tightly.

Sakura was rigid with shock. She was dazed alright. And they were in the middle of the street, for Pete's sake!

But as Neji's mouth moved insistently against hers, her resolve all melted away.

Her mind screamed at her but she couldn't help but press her lips more forcefully against his.

He felt her response so he nipped at the side of her mouth with his teeth, asking for entrance.

Sakura's mind reeled as she felt Neji's tongue caress the inside of her mouth. Oh God, she couldn't believe this was all happening. As much as she hated admitting it, she loved the way he kissed her. She loved the way his mouth moved against hers. She loved the way his strong arms held her. She loved everything of him.

Neji kissed her passionately. Unconsciously, she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. She breathed the scent of him. His lips were soft against hers as he engulfed her lips with his. She felt like she was in cloud nine.

The kiss seared and Sakura sucked in a breath which pulled him a lot closer. For her, nothing else mattered. She couldn't see her surroundings. It was all just..… him.

The kiss lasted five seconds then he pulled away. She groaned at the loss of contact. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Neji wasn't panting like her but she could tell from the uneven rise and fall of his chest that he was also breathing heavily.

"Wha-?"

The next instant she was pulled into a soft embrace. She could feel Neji's heart thumping against her own.

"It was to cheer you up."

Despite herself, she couldn't help but bite her lower lip. She was engulfed by his scent and his presence. His arms felt like the safest place on earth. _But no, Sakura. You don't like him. You were just forced into this situation. You think like this because you have no choice._ He hugged her tighter, seemingly aware of her sense of vulnerability right at that moment. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments… Moments when Hyuuga Neji showed he cares. If she was a lesser person, she would be bawling by now. Instead, her arms came up to return the hug and went deeper into his embrace.

* * *

_He kissed me. _

It was the first thought that came to her as she woke up. Very much aware of the presence of another person beside her, she slowly turned her head towards him. Sunlight poured from outside and from her sharp ninja instinct, she could surmise the time to be around 7 am.

Neji was peacefully asleep beside her. His brown hair was spread out elegantly across the pillow. It was good to know that she had someone like this in her life. Someone reliable, somebody she could lean on. In the deep recesses of her mind, she knew she could last a day staying in bed just staring at that peaceful look on his face. He wasn't such an ice block once you get to know him. She learned that through direct experience. In fact, he's quite a decent person for a man with such a bitter childhood. Speaking of, she glanced at the wrappings on his forehead that covered the mark. She wanted to take that off. He was safe here with here. There was no need for the covering. Slowly, she reached out her arm to touch it. Lightly, her finger moved down to his nose and hovered over it. He looked so angelic as he slept. A stranger surely couldn't surmise he's one of the deadliest ninjas in the world. And surely when he learns that the words 'angelic' and 'Neji' got used in one sentence, even if just on her mind, he'd surely sport that conceited look on his finely chiseled

She moved to pull her hand away. But before she could fully retrieve it, a hand shot out to grab it. Still with eyes closed, Neji took hold of her wrist, pulled it beneath the covers and placed it on the other side of him so that she was like hugging him. When that was done, to Sakura's surprise, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer still.

She stared at him incredulously. His eyes were still closed but if he opened it, she wouldn't dare maintain the direction her eyes were staring at. She might just melt.

She bit her lower lip. To her dismay, her next words came out barely above a whisper as she was holding her breath in. "I'm not so used to this kind of thing this early morning."

She wasn't sure but she thought she noticed a slight smile play on his lips. "Hn."

"Neji."

No answer.

"Neji!"

"Shut up or I'll kiss you."

Inner Sakura was like yelling _Keep talking dammit!_

But she shut her mouth tight. Her heart thudded against her ribcage for which she was totally surprised. What kind of reaction was that? Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her.

He opened his eyes at her silence. "You don't like me kissing you, huh?"

He smirked. "Well then, I have discovered an effective way of shutting Haruno Sakura up then."

"Don't you dare use that on me, Hyuuga."

_Hyuuga? Honestly? _Was what ran through Neji's mind. _I guess all those comforting fluff last night happened for nothing after all._

He regarded her silently as if he wanted to say something to her. He was searching her eyes for something.

And wait—was that hurt she saw for a fleeting moment? Or disappointment? She can't be entirely sure

Abruptly, he withdrew his hand and turned over to his side, leaving her on her side of the bed.

Huh? She's confused at his all of a sudden weird behavior

"Hey. I wasn't all that serious. What's up?"

She poked him.

Nothing.

Nudge.

Nothing.

Push.

Nothing.

Shove. Hard. He nearly toppled off the edge.

"What?" He seemed annoyed.

"Why are you being so serious all of a sudden?"

"Hn."

"What hn? I told you not to use that."

And suddenly, their full conversation last night returned to her. It dawned on her.

"Wait, are you perhaps mad because I called you Hyuuga and not Neji?"

No response.

_**Bingo.**_

"I'm sorry, Neji. It was just an outburst." She laid a hand gently upon his shoulder. "Neji."

Silence.

"Hello? Neji-kun?"

Nothing. He was shrugging her off, this handsome cold-hearted person.

_How about… _"Neji-sama?"

He had his back to her. Still, he refused to budge an inch.

"Would you like to be addressed "Neji, my honey" then?

Still, no reaction. Neji was impassive as ever even as she shook his shoulders.

"You are annoying me, you ice block!"

Suddenly, she detected traces of quivering on his shoulders.

Her brows furrowed. "Are you laughing there?" She sat up and peered on him. _What the hell, yes he was trying to stifle a laugh._

"I hate you forever!" A pillow was pushed on top of him.

"Hey!"

"You're gonna be smothered to death!"

"Sakura, stop." His face was dead serious.

But of course, who can stop her? She hit him in the face with the big fluffy pillow.

"Pillow fight!"

"Stop this childish nonsense at this moment." Normal people would be scared of him right now but this pink-haired medic nin was nowhere near normal.

"You wish!" she shrieked. "I'll show you what's childish, you bipolar person!"

"I refuse to acknowledge that. I have no bipolar attitude whatsoever."

"Oh yeah? Take that!" But he quickly caught her wrists in his adept fingers. She looked at him and tugged for her arms back. She shot him a look which clearly said _You're not giving them back huh?_

Neji's stare clearly said, _NO._

She tugged again but he was much stronger than her. A play of strengths was unfair. _Wait, till I can gather my chakra., _she thought.

Neji, however, seemed to be aware of what's on her mind. "Oh no you don't", he said and pushed her on her back until she was pinned down on the bed with him on top of her.

"What the, Neji?" she glanced up at him with an outrageous look.

"I told you not to be so annoying in the morning."

"Release me this instant." She was tugging all her might but he was keeping her successfully down. _This is such an embarrassing position. _With a burst of chakra, she repelled him with so much force that they both tumbled off the bed, tangled in the sheets.

Her arms flailed everywhere as she tried to separate herself from the bipolar husband of hers.

At that same moment, the door banged opened.

Pink locks and brunette hair flew as two heads whipped towards the open doorway. Green orbs and pale white eyes landed on the figure of Nara Shikamaru carrying a plate of sandwiches on one hand. The odd silence that engulfed the room was followed by a cheery "Good morning, sunshines!" as Ino bounded inside.

There was a collective gasp. One came from Sakura who was tangled in the sheets with Neji in a very awkward position on the floor. The other one was from Ino who looked as if she had just stepped on a booby trap that would explode if she ever dared move another step. Her mouth was gaping open.

"Whoa." was Shikamaru's only reaction.

"What are you doing here?" Neji asked, his tone a bit chilly.

"Uuuh…", said the Nara.

"Ooops…?" said Ino.

"We didn't realize things would be this wild this early in the morning." Smirk.

A chakra-filled book came flying soared through the air and hit the portion on the door where Shikamaru's head was a second ago.

* * *

**"WAIT HE KISSED YOU?"**

"What, you kissed her?"

Sakura's apartment was in a frenzy so early in the morning. Sakura winced at Ino's high-pitched voice.

Neji was beside her, drinking coffee. Across the dining table sat Shikamaru and Ino. The four of them were eating breakfast together. Ino nearly choked out her sandwich when she screamed this at her.

"How could she know that?" Neji asked Sakura.

Whose eyes widened like plates.

"What, you really did?" Shikamaru didn't even try hiding his amusement.

_Damn, _Sakura thought. _Ino's instincts are still as sharp as ever. _And she wasn't referring to ninja skills if it wasn't obvious by the way.

"Look, it's written all over her face." Ino was bobbing up and down on her chair as she pointed excitedly to Sakura.

"What's with my face?" But as she said this, she felt a hot blush cover her cheeks. She tried hard to conceal it. Thankfully, it disappeared after a split second.

Unfortunately, Ino still saw it.

"HA! You blushed! I saw it!"

"Honestly, stop it." Sakura sighed exasperatedly. "What do you two want with us at this time of the day?"

Neji pierced Shikamaru with his stare, arms crossed in front of him. "You trespass on our property. We demand an explanation."

"Hey, I'm sorry man" He held up his hands in surrender. "I didn't know we were gonna see something like that after you told me…" He stopped at Neji's murderous glare.

Ino was watching their conversation very closely. "Told you what?"

"Stop scrutinizing. You won't get anything." The Byakugan user said to the blonde.

"However…" Shikamaru started, cleared his throat, and tried to steer Neji's attention to the girls and away from him. He was sure the white-eyed nija would wring his neck when he gets the chance. "We, on the other hand, got something out of you."

Sakura and Ino both raised their eyebrows at him.

"Were you talking about Neji kissing Sakura when we aren't here?" Shikamaru asked, a smile plastered triumphantly on his face.

"NO" both said simultaneously.

_Too fast. Typical girls. _He smirked. "So how come Ino got a conclusion from one look on your face?" He asked pointedly to Sakura.

Both girls exchanged glances.

"AHA! So you were talking about it even before Neji did it!"

"No!" Sakura piped up sharply. She threw Neji a baleful stare that said _You wish!_

"Whoa. What is with this staring contest." Shikamaru said as he watched Neij and Sakura battle with their eyes.

"Can you like NOT assume anything about us or our conversations? Seriously." Sakura had her arms folded across her chest. "So what brings you here so early in the morning."

"Well, we were out for a morning walk…" Ino began. "…when we came upon the news!"

"Which is?"

"Sasuke just came back to town!"

Sakura's eyes went wide. "I'm sorry. Did I just hear you say Sasuke just arrived?"

Uchiha Sasuke, after betraying Konoha and leaving his friends, finally came back to them three years ago. The Godaime and the council agreed to grant him a clean slate if he would offer his help against the Akatsuki. For the past two years, Sasuke has been on an A-rank mission for which the specific details are top secret and thus unknown.

Sakura jumped out of her seat. "Where is he? And why didn't you TELL ME MUCH SOONER?"

"Whoa chill, stress for the baby!" Ino had an arm across the table towards her.

"I think he's crashing in Naruto's apartment for the meantime." muttered Shikamaru from beside her best friend.

Sparing Neji just one glance, Sakura had gone in a flurry of pink locks.


End file.
